Leaders are working to transform their organizations in order to survive during these tough times. Unfortunately, as OD professionals we know that too few of these efforts will succeed. One major reason is that employees, at a personal level, don't adjust the way they think, act or feel enough to embrace 'the new way' (Duck, 1998). As Bridges (2003) noted, change is an event - the merger of two companies, the sale of a business unit, the adoption of new technology. The behind-the-scenes work is the transition - the personal, psychological process of moving from the old to the new. Bridges (2003) describes transitions as including three phrases: the 'ending,' the 'neutral zone,' and the 'new beginning.'

Nearly every innovation the world has seen is the result of curiosity. But what if Mozart hadn't been curious about composition, Leonardo da Vinci had ignored the human form and Louis Pasteur never explored medicine? The world would be bereft of music, art and even health as we know it.

Organizations Need to Adopt an Invention-First Mindset, but it Requires Ambition and Commitment

Lori Senecal, Adweek

In search of exponential returns for their customers, employees and shareholders, today's most revolutionary companies aren't innovative, they are inventive. They are the businesses committed to creating genuine firsts by taking invention beyond product development and carrying this mind-set through their entire organizations.

We just completed a major study of human capital trends around the world (Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends, 2,500 organizations in 90 countries) and the message is clear: Companies are struggling to engage our modern, 21st century workforce.

This is a worldwide issue. Gallup research shows that only 13% of employees around the world are actively engaged at work, and more than twice that number are so disengaged they are likely to spread negativity to others.

Q. What is one practical tip for managing employees who have a significantly different worldview than yours - culturally or generationally, for instance?

1. Spend extra time with them

A mistake I made early in my career was being annoyed by employees who were so generationally different that I couldn't get through to them. Bluntly speaking, I had a major attitude problem and being annoyed was an indicator of a problem on my end - not theirs. Once I got over myself and spent more time with them, I unlocked their potential within our company that my pride would have prevented. - Seth Talbott, Preferling

As head of diversity with Facebook, Sara Sperling plays a major role in the shaping of the company. She's in charge of Facebook's efforts to become a more demographically diverse company and refers to herself more as a Dean of Students than a Facebook executive.

Sperling, who has been with Facebook for four years, recently spoke at the first Lesbians Who Tech summit, an event that helps build awareness of queer women in the tech industry and the opportunities that are available for them.

Women have long fought for gender equality in the workplace, so one would imagine female entrepreneurs would naturally narrow the salary gap. Yet, a recent study by Babson College showed women are paid less, even when they write their own paycheck.

The study surveyed graduates of Goldman Sachs's Small Business Program and found the gender gap that exists in the workforce also exists amongst entrepreneurs. Women in the United States earn an average of 77 cents for every dollar paid to men.

It is way too early to be up on a Wednesday morning. Hot coffee and upbeat pop music, ranging from Kings of Leon to P!nk, has the crowd buzzing, despite the early hour of 7:30 a.m. I look around and think I must be the only drowsy person in the auditorium, but soon I too am swept up in the energetic vibe. This is the first morning for the 50 new JetBlue crewmembers' careers and, this week, I'm here to join them.

Back in 1997, before it was streaming a billion hours of Internet television a month, Netflix was a startup. They had a fairly standard vacation policy: 10 vacation days, 10 holidays, and a handful of sick days per person. Rather than formally tracking these days, they opted for an honor system, with employees tracking their own off days and informing their managers when appropriate.

Then, in 2002, Netflix went public.

"(O)ur auditors freaked," former Netflix chief talent officer Patty McCord writes in HBR. They thought that Sarbanes-Oxley, the accounting reform legislation, required that time off was carefully accounted for.

Data breaches and cyberattacks have dominated the news over the past several months, embarrassing such big companies as Las Vegas Sands (LVS), whose casino in Bethlehem, Pa., was attacked, and Target (TGT), which suffered the biggest retail attack in U.S. history.

Hackers don't just go after multinationals. Smaller companies are often prime targets for attackers looking to exploit vulnerable security systems, says Kevin B. McDonald, executive vice president of computer network management company Alvaka Networks. Entrepreneurs may also be snagged by hackers who cull through a wide swath of computer IP addresses looking for weaknesses.

Over the course of 35 years and 5,000-plus interviews as a recruiter, I've developed an interviewing method that identifies superior candidates about 85 percent of the time. I call it the two-question performance-based interview (a.k.a. the Whole Brain Interview).

5 Things Your Favorite High School Teacher Taught You About Leading a Great Meeting

Laura Vanderkam, Fast Company

Remember your favorite teacher? Whether she taught calculus or Shakespeare, she controlled the class. She stretched your brain and challenged you to do your best work.

Those are probably the same sentiments you'd like to inspire in your team members now. Indeed, there are many similarities between a high school class and a meeting. You congregate to do something better together than you can on your own, but social dynamics and human nature conspire to limit impact.